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Within the homeless population, LGBTQ+ people, especially youth, are disproportionately more likely to experience homelessness and do not have access to the services and resources they need within the current system. A study by the Williams Institute at UCLA found that LGBTQ+ adults are twice as likely to experience homelessness than straight, cisgender adults. Within the LGBTQ+ community, Black people are much more likely than non-black peers to experience homelessness at some point in their lives. These rates are even higher among homeless youth. There are approximately 1.6 million homeless youth in the United States and LGBTQ+ youth represent 40% of that population. Over half report that the primary reason for homelessness is because of an unsupportive family environment. Additionally, about 60 percent of LGBTQ+ youth report feeling unsafe at school because of bullying and harassment suffered because of their identity. In addition to being overrepresented within the population of homeless youth, LGBTQ+ children are also more likely to experience mental health disorders, such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Transgender people also face unique issues in this space because shelters are typically segregated by gender and they can often be denied access to the correct shelter based on the gender identity. They can also struggle to access transition related care because in most states, Medicaid does not cover these services. For this reason, PRIDE is launching a donation drive for the Haven Shelter to not only give back to our local community but raise awareness of the disproportionately high rates of homelessness experienced by LGBTQ+ youth and adults. We are also hoping to draw attention to the unique struggles of LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people, who are experiencing homelessness. There needs to be action in this policy area to increase support services for LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness and to decrease the number of LGBTQ+ people becoming homeless. LGBTQ+ youth need to be supported more within schools and within their homes to reduce the rates of homelessness. There also needs to be an expansion of Medicaid to include access to transition related care services in every state to ensure that transgender youth can access healthcare. Shelters and service providers also need to increase training so that their staff can provide competent care for LGBTQ+ people experiencing homelessness. However, this cannot happen without increased funding to those providing these important services. Communities should also support these shelters by providing them with the necessary resources they need to continue providing services to those experiencing homelessness. We hope you will join us in supporting the Haven Shelter through our resource drive. A full list of the items we are collecting for the Haven can be found on their website.  The views expressed above are solely the author's and are not endorsed by the Virginia Policy Review, The Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy, or the University of Virginia. Although this organization has members who are University of Virginia students and may have University employees associated or engaged in its activities and affairs, the organization is not a part of or an agency of the University. It is a separate and independent organization which is responsible for and manages its own activities and affairs. The University does not direct, supervise or control the organization and is not responsible for the organization’s contracts, acts, or omissions.
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The COVID-19 pandemic, now entering its third year, has strained mental healthcare infrastructure both across the United States and in Virginia. Mass infection and mortality, economic instability, and the disruption of routines and established modes of community-building have combined to produce a nearly perfect storm of deleterious effects. As of early 2021, the proportion of adults who reported symptoms of anxiety or depression had quadrupled from pre-pandemic levels. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey, 36% of adults report that stress or worry relating to the pandemic has negatively impacted their sleep, and 12% of adults say the pandemic has led to increased alcohol or drug use. Even with safe, effective vaccines widely available, the recent Omicron surge serves as a reminder that the pandemic, and its accompanying detrimental effects on physical and mental health, cannot yet be discounted as a top-line public policy issue.
In July 1969, human beings set foot on another world for the first time ever when Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin spent just under one earth-day on the surface of the Moon. Over the next three years, NASA conducted five more successful crewed Moon landings, with the last, Apollo 17, leaving the Moon in December 1972.
The Moon landings were a remarkable achievement for the United States, and for humanity as a whole. Apollo 11 traveled over 200,000 miles to land on the Moon just under fifty years since the first time humans flew 1,900 miles across the Atlantic and only eight years since the first human being entered space. What’s more, the landings were achieved less than seven years after President Kennedy announced before a crowd at Rice University in 1962 that the United States would go to the Moon by the end of the decade. However, the last Moon landing was almost fifty years ago. Since then, hundreds of people have gone to space, but no one has gone farther than low-Earth orbit. The fifty years between the first transatlantic flight and the first Moon landing saw unbelievable strife and social upheaval, yet unparalleled technological advancement. The same can be said of the fifty years since we last went farther than about a thousand miles from the Earth, so what, where, and when is our next great navigation milestone? The what and where are easy: Mars. The question of when, however, appears to be more challenging. Last year, workers across the country organized their workplaces to advocate for stronger pay, benefits, working conditions, and collective bargaining agreements. Early in the year, Amazon workers attempted to unionize their plant in Bessmer, AL. Their drive received national attention, and it even prompted President Joe Biden to announce his support for their efforts. Other high-profile efforts included the recent successful unionization of a Starbucks store in the Buffalo area, which drew attention from national political leaders like Sen. Bernie Sanders and has already inspired over 50 other locations to file for their own elections. Meanwhile, thousands of other workers banded together to strike their respective workplaces, including John Deere, Kellogg’s, and Columbia University. From “#Striketober” to the PRO Act, these direct actions have inspired activists and political leaders to rally behind unions and push for fundamental changes in national labor policy.
Dozens were injured and three people died as a result of the Unite the Right Rally on August 12, 2017. Four years later on November 24, 2021 a Jury found the rally’s organizers liable for Civil Conspiracy to violate Virginia Code 8.01-42.1, often referred to as Virginia’s hate crime law, awarding $25 million in damages. This verdict effectively bankrupts some of the most prominent members of the White Supremacy Movement (WSM). Defendants included main rally organizer Jason Kessler, alt-right leader Richard Spencer, car attack perpetrator James Fields Jr., along with several far right individuals and organizations like the Traditional Workers Party, Identity Evropa, and League of the South. The trial featured testimony from victims, experts on the WSM, and the defendants themselves. Additional evidence in the form of the Rally organizers’ chat logs and communications shed light on the ways the WSM co-opts mainline political and cultural issues like free speech and historical preservation as cover for recruitment and racially motivated violence.
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